THE EASTER BUNNY, THE TOOTH FAIRY AND THE LOTTERY

A JetBlue pilot went “bonkers” on a recent  flight from New York to Las Vegas and had to be kept from re-entering the flight deck. Clayton Osbon is unfortunately one of America’s most famous pilots these days as a result of this incident. He was said to be ranting about religion, 9/11, Iran, Iraq and terrorists prior to having been restrained.  According to JetBlue’s CEO, up until this incident, Osbon had always been a “consummate professional”.

College campus shootings appear to be happening with frightening regularity. It seems that everything is not as it once was. People seem frustrated and stressed out. Is it because our level of trust in our political leaders in this country is at an all-time low? Is our “moral compass” as a nation broken? What is true and who can we trust? Are we suffering from a lack of heroes and role models in our lives? Is it because nothing is sacred anymore?

A few weeks ago three people are said to have won the largest Mega Millions jackpot in history. The odds of winning the prize of over $650 million was estimated to be one in 176 million. Probably about the same odds of being hit by lightning twice in the same day. One of the 3 winners now said that she shouldn’t have to share her winnings with her co-workers, who claim they all agreed to pool their tickets and split any forthcoming bounty.

Have you ever wondered what happens to people after they win the lottery? I have read that for many of them, the story doesn’t end well. I know you’re probably saying to yourself something like, “but if it were me, things would be different, I would be generous with my winnings and I wouldn’t allow myself to be negatively influenced by the money”.

So why is it that for some, winning the lottery may be the worst thing that could ever happen to them? Could it be that their priorities are out of order? My grandfather used to say, “If you don’t take time to set priorities [goals] for yourself, you become susceptible to the priorities [goals] of others and as a result you may end up one day in a place you didn’t intend to be”. Much like the Easter Bunny and the Tooth Fairy, winning the lottery may just be a false perception of reality.

So what’s the answer? Could it be that the bible is still a relevant source of truth and in fact worthy of our time and consideration for our journey through life?

My family and I had the joy of celebrating Easter together recently. I am thankful that the tomb was empty on that Easter morning some 2000 years ago.

LEARNING FROM OUR MISTAKES

Someone once said, “If you are not making any mistakes, you are not trying hard enough”. Truth be known, I hate to make mistakes. I guess it’s the perfectionist or perhaps the over achiever in me.

Everyone makes mistakes. The bible is filled with stories of people’s mistakes. My grandfather used to say, “We should learn from the mistakes of others since there’s a good chance that we will not live long enough to make them all ourselves”.

I recently made an expensive [$278] mistake and got a speeding ticket. To make matters worse, it happened while only ten miles into a scheduled 350 mile car trip. I was upset with both myself and the [over achieving] police officer who informed me that I was going 74 mph in a 55 mph speed zone. For those of you who are familiar with I-285, the perimeter highway which encircles Atlanta, who goes 55 mph on 285?  If you did, you would get run over.

The famous author and motivational speaker Dale Carnegie, is said to have had a file folder in his desk drawer entitled "FTD".  It stood for “Foolish Things I Have Done". Whenever he did something foolish, he would dictate a record of it to his assistant. He confesses, however, that on occasion he was so embarrassed by his stupidity that he was ashamed to have her know it.  He would write it out in longhand and slip it into the file himself.

I just finished a book entitled, “How Do You Kill 11 Million People?”. As you may have guessed, the title refers to the approximate number of people who were killed at the hands of Adolf Hitler and his minions during the Holocaust period. The book asks its’ readers some important questions including how do we prevent a reoccurrence of such a horrendous event. As philosopher George Santayana said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Like most things, learning from our mistakes as well as the mistakes of others is easier said than done, but we all know it’s the smart thing to do.